Sewing machine



Nov. 5, 1929.

F. N. LA CHAPELLE SEWING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet Original Filed March 27, 1920 Nov. 5, 1929. F. N. LA CHAPELLE, 1,734,689

I SEWING MACHINE Original Filed March 27, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 5, 1929. F N. LA CVQHAPEVLLE 1,734,680

SEWING MACHINE Original Filed March 27, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 II 'l/////////////////A Patented Nov. 5, 1929 rare:

FRED N, LA. CHAPELLE, OE BEVERLY,- IvIASSACH USETTE' ASSIGN OR. TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COR-PQEA'JZIQII, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY snwine MACHINE.

Application filed March 2?, 1929,. Serial No. 359,280. Renewed Sanitary 12, 1929;

The present invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to sewing machines employed in the manufacture of] moccasins and other articles made of heavy leather or similar material.

In the manufacture of moccasins. a single piece of leather is shaped to form the sides and sole of the moccasin and a toe piece is sewed tothe sides about the toe portion to form an enclosure for the toe portion of the foot... Also, apiece of: leather is generally sewed to the sides aboutthe rearportion to form a covering for the instep and ankle of the foot, v V v In applicants, co-pending, application filed of even date herewi'thSerial Number 369,279, a curved hook needle lock stitch sewing machine is illustrated and described which is particularly adapted to form the seam between the described parts of a moccasin while the parts are held in place on a last with their edges abutting, means being provided in the machine to turn up the edges. slightly in advance of the needle to insure that asufiicient amount of stock will be left above the stitches. to obtain a strong and tight seam.

In applicants co-pending application, Serial'No. 349,909, filed January 7 1920, is illustrated and described. a method of forming the seam uniting parts of a moccasin which maybe practiced by first trimming the edges of the parts even and forming a groove at a predetermined distance from the trimmed edge on the inner or flesh side of the margin of each part The margins are then placed together with their edges flush and, of course, with the grooves pa-rallel and opposite to each other... The margins are then temporarily secured together near their outer edges by staples of fine wire which enables the parts tobe placed upon a last. l/Vhile the parts are on the last, pressure is applied to the outer sides of the margins to cause the grooves to be transferred from the inside to the outside of the work; and the parts are sewed together with a plain lock stitch which passes in at the base of one groove and out at the base of the other, the stitches appearing on the body portion adjacent the grooves and bein invisible on the. inside ofthe. work. After tnecomple tion of the sewing operation, the Work is trimmed away along a line located at the narrowest part of the substance between the grooves, and the portion then projecting beyond the general surface of the body portions; is rubbedldown to. close the edgestogether to complete the formation of the seam. An

obj ect of the present invention is to. provide a sewing machine that is particularly adapted to be employed in the practice of this method.

With this and other obj ectsin view,a feature of the present invention contemplates 'the provision in a sewing machinefor-uniting ployed as the means for accomplishing this result at the sametime as they are being actuated to hold and feed vthe work; In case the outer sides of the marginal portions of the parts are grooved in accordance with said method, the ends of the gripping members are preferably'shaped to fit the grooves so as to. ensure that the gripping members will holdthe workeflectively during the feeding operation and during the passage of the needle through the work.

Other featuresof the present invention consist in certain constructions, arrangement and combinations. of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of whichWill obvious. to those skilled in the art; 1

The several features of, the. present invention will be clearly understood fromthe following description andaocornpanyingdrawings, in which p I Figures 1 and 2. are side. and front elevations, res (actively, of portions ofa curved hook nee lei lock stitch sewing machine. em

obviously the gripping members may be embodying the features in their preferred form 5.

Fig. 3 is a left side elevation, partly in section, of the parts illustrated in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

The sewing machine, as illustrated in the drawings, has the same general construction and mode of operation, except as hereinafter described, as the machine illustrated and described in the patent to French and Meyer No. 705,063, dated July 22, 1902. This machine is providedwith the usual curved hook needle 2, looper 4, take-up 6, shuttle mechanism 8, and loop spreader 10.

The illustrated'machine is also provided with apair of gripping members 12 and 14 which are adapted to cooperate to grip and feed the work, the member 12 being laterally immovable and the member 14 being laterally movable toward and from the member 12, and said members being movable simultane ously in adirection to feed the work. In Figs. 1 and 4 the gripping members are shown r inoperative engagement with a portion of a moccasin having a side part 16 and a top part 18 mounted on a last 20. The parts are shown united by a partially formed seam constructed in accordance with the method illustrated and described in said application, Serial No. 349,909, the parts having upstanding marginal portions 22 which are tem porarily secured together near their outer ends by fasteners 24 and having grooves 26 formed in their outer sides adjacent the line of division of the margins and the body of the parts. The ends of the gripping members 12 and 14 are shaped to closely fit the grooves in the marginal portions of the parts so that when the gripping members engage the margins, the work will be securely held from both vertical and lateral movement and the marginal portions firmly pressed together. To feed the work the gripping members first engage the work, as shown in Fig. 1, and then the gripping members are advanced toward the needle the length of a stitch. After the feeding movement, the gripping members continue to hold'the work a sutiicient length of time to permit the needle topenetrate the work, the l'ooper to lay the thread in the barb of the needle, and the needle to withdraw from the work, a lock stitch beingformed that is invisible on the inside of the work and that extends from a point adjacent the base of one groove to a point adjacent the base of the other groove, as shown in Fig. 3. As the needle leaves the work, the work is released from the gripping T: members by the gripping member 14 being or back feeding of the gripping members, the members are caused to again grip the work to repeat the cycle of operations.

The gripping member 12 comprises an arm that is secured to a bracket 28 by means of a bolt 30, the bolt extending through a vertical slot in the bracket and threaded into an aperture in the arm to provide for vertical adjustment of the member 12. The gripping member 14 comprises an arm that is secured by a bolt 32 to the lower end of a lever 34 pivoted on the forward end of a shaft 36 mounted in a bearing in the bracket 28, the bolt 32 extending through a vertical slot in the gripping member 14 and threaded into an aperture in the lever 34 to provide for vertical adjustment of the gripping member.

The lever 34 is actuated to positively move the gripping member 14 into and out of operative engagement with the work at the proper times by means of a bell crank 38 pivoted on a shaft 40 mounted. in the machine frame, and having a cam roll 42 mounted on its rear arm that engages a cam groove in a cam disk 44 carried by the main cam shaft 46 of the machine. The connection between the lever 34 and the bell crank 38 comprises a block 48 pivotally mounted on a screw 50 secured to the end of the forward arm of the bell crank, which block extends through a slot 52 in the end of the upper arm of the lever 34.

The illustrated machine has provision of manually operable means for opening the gripping members to permit the insertion and. removal of work between them. To this end the portion of the shaft 36 on which the lever 34 is pivotally mounted is made eccentric to the axis of the shaft, and a handle 54 is secured to the rear end of the shaft. With this construction upon swinging the handle 54 upwardly, the shaft 36 will be turned in the direction to cause the eccentric portion of the shaft to swing the lever 34 outwardly about its pivotal connection with the bell crank 38, thereby moving the gripping member 14 in a direction away from the work. Upon releas ing the handle 54 the shaft 36 Will be returned to its normal position to return the gripping member 14 into engagement with the work, by means of a coiled spring 56 having one end connected to a pin 60 secured to a lug projecting from the hub of the handle 54, and its other end connected to a pin 62 secured to the bracket 28, this movement of the shaft 36 being limited by the engagement of a stop lug 64 on the hub of the handle 54 with a fixed stop 66 on the bracket 28. v

To impart the described feeding and retracting movements to the gripping members 12 and 14,-the bracket 28, on which the gripping members are mounted as above described, is secured to a horizontal slide 70 mounted to slide in ways formed in a bracket 7 2 projecting from the machine frame. The

the slide 70. In order that the movement of the parts carried by the bracket 28 may be effected during the feeding operation independently of the bell crank 38, the connection between the bell crank and the lever 34 comprising the pivoted block 48, permits the lever 34 to move laterally independently of the bell crank 38.

While the features described herein are well adapted for use in a moccasin sewing machine, it is to be understood that, except as defined in the claims, certain features of the invention are not limited to use in this particular type of sewing machine.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated and a machine embodying the several features of the invention in their preferred form having been specifically described, what is claimed as new is I 1. A sewing machine for uniting marginal portions of parts of an article having, in combination, stitch forming devices, gripping members adapted to engage the opposite sides of said marginal portions, manually operable means for separating the gripping members comprising a shaft having an eccentric portion on which one of the gripping members is pivotally mounted, and means for turning the shaft, and means for actuating the gripping members to press said marginal portions together and to feed the work.

2. A sewing machine for uniting marginal portions of parts of an article having oppositely disposed grooves formed in the outer sides of the marginal portions, while the portions of said parts adjacent the marginal portions are vheld substantially flat in the same plane having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle, gripping members engaging the grooves and arranged to hold the work in position for the needle to enter the work below the groove in one part and to emerge'from the work below the groove in the other part.

3. A sewing machine for uniting marginal portions of atop part and a side and sole part of a moccasin having oppositely disposed grooves formed on the outer sides of the marginal portions while the parts are on a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle, gripping members engaging the grooves and arranged to hold the work in position for the needle to enter the work below the groove in one part and to emerge from the work below the groove in the other part.

4. A sewing machine for uniting marginal portions of parts of an article having oppositely disposed grooves formed in the'outer sides of the marginal portions, while the portions of said parts adjacent to the marginal portions are held substantially fiat in the same plane, having, in combination stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle, gripping members arranged to engage the grooves and holdthe work in position for the needle to enter the work below the groove in one part and to emerge from the work below the groove in the other part,

and means for actuating the gripping mem bers to engage the grooves and feed the work. 5. A sewing machine for uniting marginal portions of parts of an article having oppositely disposed grooves formed in the outer sides of the marginal portions, having, in combination, stitch forming devices mcluding a needle, gripping members engaging the grooves and arranged to hold the Work in position for the needle to enter the work below the groove in one part andto emerge from the work below the groove in the other part.

6. A sewing machine for uniting marginal portions of a top part and a side and sole part of a moccasin having oppositely diss posed grooves formed on the outer sides of the marginal portions while the parts are on a last having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a needle, gripping members engaging the grooves and arranged to hold the work in position for the needle to enter the work below the groove in one part and to emerge from the work below the groove in the other part.-

FRED N. LA OHAPELLE. 

